


Little Things

by voxmyriad



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Bromance, Gen, Gender neutral Pyro, Gratuitous namedropping of bases, It's a job they take very seriously, Pyro is a nature nerd, Slice of base life, TF2 Secret Santa 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 00:57:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3154805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voxmyriad/pseuds/voxmyriad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's something to see on all the bases and Pyro sees everything they can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> TF2 Secret Santa fic for [jumpjudgmental](http://jumpjudgmental.tumblr.com)! Pyro as a nature nerd is a headcanon of mine.

Pyro loved the bases. From what the team could tell, Pyro loved all the bases equally. While some of the others could be heard to grumble about Coldfront's frigid winds, or the still, stifling heat of Hoodoo, the damp at Sawmill, no matter where they ended up, Pyro's reaction was always the same. The rest of the team would settle into the barracks, unpacking, looking over weapons, discussing strategy or catching up if it had been a while, and Pyro would be outside, everywhere outside, covering the whole terrain of the base, and all the nooks and crannies they could reach. There was something refreshing about their enthusiasm.

As far as Pyro was concerned, they couldn't understand why everyone else _didn't_ go back outside as soon as they possibly could after arriving. Pyro had found the wren nests tucked into the rafters at the very top of Barnblitz. Clusters of snowdrops grew just outside the fence at Viaduct, out of range of rockets or bombs, untouched by fire, just little white flowers blossoming out of snow. Once there had been a family of frogs living under the bridge at 2Fort, but they hadn't lasted long. Pyro checked for them again every time they went back there.

Of _course_ they were excited, there was so much to _see_ on all the bases, why didn't anyone else understand that? But no, that wasn't fair. The rest of the team didn't explore on their own, but sometimes the others did come to see things Pyro had found. Sniper had been delighted about the wild turkeys, though there had been a bit of a misunderstanding about why. But Pyro made sure to let Medic know whenever they found unusual birds, and Soldier needed to know if there were raccoons or opossums or squirrels, and they had a whole list of things to show Scout.

Over the years, Pyro had made a list for everyone. It was an important job, even if no one else thought so.

It wasn't unusual for Pyro to run inside and then head back outside immediately, and so no one took much notice when they burst into the kitchen and collected a bag of flour, and then Scout on their way back out the door.

There wasn't much chance of Scout preventing himself from getting dragged, Pyro's rig weighed only a little less than he did, so he took off running alongside them, trying to get his arm back.

"Whoa, Pyro, what's up, where we going? I'm coming, I'm coming, c'mon, gimme back my arm, huh? That's my batting arm, I need that for tomorrow, you're gonna rip it out!"

Pyro released him and kept going, letting out a torrent of unintelligible sounds. Ostentatiously rubbing his shoulder, Scout followed.

"Y'know, it'd be way easier if you just took off-- Okay, got it, we got somewhere to be, jeez. What's with the flour?"

Pyro came to an abrupt halt and pressed a gloved finger to their mask filter. Quiet. Scout opened his mouth and Pyro let out an annoyed little hiss, so Scout went quiet. He could do quiet, okay, no one thought he could but he could be _real_ quiet if he wanted to be, so there.

Scout stuck next to Pyro as they crept toward a tall rock. They circled the rock and Pyro pointed down and Scout looked and, "Holy shit," he whispered. "Are those, like...those are bunnies."

He could tell Pyro was beaming through the mask, and he shifted onto his hands and knees to look closer. Not too much closer, he didn't want to scare 'em, although they were probably plenty freaked already. Tiny little balls of fur the soft color of sandy dirt, all huddled together in a little pile. Tiny ears all laid back, little brown eyes. They weren't moving at all. They looked like little statues, but soft. There was one white one, almost buried beneath the rest.

He backed off, grinning from ear to ear. "Man, that's cool. That's freakin' awesome. Did you know they'd be here?"

"Mmhmm." Pyro indicated that they'd gone around the rest of the field and then found them, before ripping open the bag of flour and sprinkling a narrow line of white into the grass around the nest. The babies didn't move.

"What's that for?" Scout whispered. Pyro gestured, made a shape about a foot long, with ears-- "The mom? Oh shit, where is she?"

Pyro shrugged and tapped the line of flour, pantomimed hopping up to the nest and dusting the flour aside.

"Oh, I get it! If she's still around, the flour'll be gone? Hey, that's kinda genius. You think of that yourself?"

Pyro shook their head and closed the bag, then pulled on Scout's shoulder and moved back. Scout took a last look into the nest and the little pile of bunnies--five of them at least--and followed. "I never saw a nest of bunnies before. Thanks."

"Mmmph."

"Hey, uh, you wanna do batting practice? Later, I mean, when you're done an' all, I know you ain't got to everywhere yet."

"Mmmph!" Pyro clapped their hands and nodded.

"Okay, but no airblasting my balls over the fence this time, okay? I ain't got a million of 'em, and we're at freakin' Thunder Mountain, I ain't chasing anything down an' falling off."

"Mph mm-mph." Pyro held up three fingers.

"Is that Scout's honor?" Scout snorted and punched at Pyro's shoulder, and Pyro giggled. "Whatever, asshole, like you're the first one to make that freakin' joke. Want me to take that back in for ya?"

Pyro nodded and put the bag of flour into Scout's outstretched hand. "Okay, see ya." Scout took off at a run, what else, back toward the base. Pyro watched him go, then peeked back over the rock to check on the nest and make sure that the flour line was still there. Then they moved on. If they were right, there should be a little grove of trees farther up the mountain with a carpet of violets, and Heavy would definitely enjoy seeing those.


End file.
